My Little Paintball: Rise of the Griffon Kingdom
by Alphadude007
Summary: It's been two years since the Equestrian Paintball War. Veterans and rookies alike volunteer for the newly formed Equestrian Paintball Corps, ready to get into some paintball action. With tensions rising between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom, conflict may be closer than most think. Submit an OC and join the fight for the EPC or the Griffon Army! Same bit, different day, right?
1. Chapter 1

**My Little Paintball: Rise of the Griffon Kingdom**

**Chapter 1: S.B.D.D.**

_2 years after Equestrian Paintball War_

-Canterlot, Equestria-

It was a bright and sunny day in Canterlot, many of the city's populace enjoying the warm glow of the sun. Clouds dotted the sky as pegasus ponies scrambled to and fro in the blue expanse to get the puffy white things where they wanted them to. On the ground, earth ponies and unicorns went about their daily business in the streets of Equestria's capital. Fillies and colts sat in schools, many having to endure the torture of learning Crystal Empire geography. On the castle grounds, royal guards patrolled the perimeter of the palace, their spears and golden armor glinting in the sunlight. In the courtyard of the castle, however, one such occurrence would have been rarely seen two years ago, but nowadays was becoming more and more commonplace. Dozens of ponies from all over Equestria had come to volunteer for the Equestrian Paintball Corps. With the experiences from the conflict two years prior, Celestia and Luna had decided to form a joint paintball organization for the defense of Canterlot, should another paintballs zip through the air once more in Equestria.

Celestia watched the recruits from the castle tower's balcony, her magenta eyes scanning the recruits like a hawk watching its prey before swooping. A group of forty, maybe fifty, earth ponies was doing push-ups on the yard, a single drill instructor marching up and down the line barking at any potential slackers. To the right of that, a smaller group of unicorns was practicing calisthenics, stretching their legs and various other body parts to warm up for the next exercise session. And finally, a group of pegasi was performing wing-ups, their bodies rising and falling as the strength of their wings held them just above the tips of grass underneath them. Farther off in the distance was a firing range where all three species of pony had taken positions, shooting their practice paintball markers at paper targets. Celestia smiled at the _pop pop pop_ that was heard from the firing range as the recruits trained their marker's sights on the hostile paper.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same." Celestia stated, her eyes continuing their scan of the multihued crowd below her as her smile faded. "Boundaries shift, new players step in, but power always finds a place to rest its head." Her mind travelled back to the maps she would strategize over with her advisors during the paintball war. The balance of power was always shifting, the Lunar Eclipses would take a few positions, her Solar Flares would take them back and then some, then the Eclipses would retaliate and so on, so forth. She thought of the sheer number of volunteers that joined either side. And it wasn't just normal ponies either. Fanon OCs had commissioned themselves into the ranks of both Eclipses and Flares, fighting alongside their canon brethren. And yet, amidst it all, victory still would have been an absolute factor no matter who claimed the battlefield.

"We fought and sweat alongside the griffons. We should've known they'd hate us for it." Celestia said, closing her eyes in thought. Even though griffons had fought in the Equestrian Paintball War, they didn't receive nearly as much credit as their pony counterparts. As a result, resentment began to grow amongst the griffons. True, many ponies had taken it upon themselves to say that they were better on the battlefield than the 'featherbrains' they fought next to. The insults hurled at them only churned the silent anger of the griffons. Even though Celestia had tried to reason with the griffon monarch and convince him that the insults of a few didn't reflect the majority's opinion of griffon kind, her pleas had fallen upon deaf ears. So once again, pride was the culprit for ill will towards others.

"History is written by the victor, and here I am thinking we'd won. But you bring down one enemy and they find someone even worse to replace them." Celestia wondered who she would rather be fighting against, her sister's Lunar Eclipses or the army of the Griffon Kingdom. No contest. The griffons were far more disciplined and skillful in the art of warfare than the average pony was. So if they were to be armed with paintball guns and they marched on Equestria, ponies wouldn't stand too much of a chance.

"Locations change. The rationale. The objective." Celestia said as she opened her eyes again, the mountains to the east catching their attention. Instead of two army camps like in there was two years ago, there was now a single paintball training facility for Equestria. It was no longer civil war, but cooperation. Instead of seeking the defeat of Flares or Eclipses, it was a single force for bolstering the defense of Equestria's capital. "Yesterday's enemies are today's recruits. Train them to fight alongside you and pray they don't decide to hate you for it too."

The alicorn princess turned around to face a hard-faced olive green earth pony with a black buzz cut mane adorning his head and a short cut tail in the rear. Printed on the stallion's flank was a red exclamation mark. The Equestrian Paintball Corps sergeant snapped at attention as Celestia regarded him with a stern look.

"Same bit, different day. You know what I'm looking for, Sergeant Foaley. Keep your eyes open." The princess ordered.

Foaley nodded in reply. "Got a new batch hitting the pit today, ma'am. I'll send you the best I find."

**Guess who's back, mothabuckas! I hope y'all are ready for some more paintball 'cuz it's coming to ya real soon! For those of you that haven't read the first My Little Paintball fic and wish to get in on the action with this one, leave a comment/PM describing your OC. Name, species, appearance, likes/dislikes, paintball weapons of choice, favorite kind of cheese, whatever. You submit your OC and sit back while I'll use it in the fic's story. And to those of you that were part of the fun last time, just resubmit your OC the same way you did the first time. On that note, bring on those OCs and I'll see you all in the next update!**


	2. Chapter 2

**My Little Paintball: Rise of the Griffon Kingdom**

**Chapter 2: Welcome to the EPC**

**-Location: Unknown-**

_Where the buck am I? _Trimmer wondered as she scanned her surroundings. Concern crept into her mind as her vision was met with nothing but blackness. Infinite, empty blackness.

Raising her hands to her eyes, Trimmer let out a sigh of relief at the knowledge that she hadn't been stricken blind. _Okay. So is this could be just another one of Discord's lessons._ She figured, crossing her arms in contemplation of what she was doing there.

"Rise and shine, Miss Trimmer." A voice droned in front of her. Trimmer's eyes shot ahead in the direction she heard the voice, unable to see anything. Then she saw it. A faded image of a blue-suited pale grey unicorn appeared in her vision, a small black magically levitating brief case floating next to him. Trimmer's eyes narrowed at the pony as his green ones stared into her soul. "Rise and… shine." The stallion's image suddenly flashed monochrome and then faded back into his normal color.

"Uh… should I know you?" Trimmer asked, trying to hide her annoyance at the lack of anyone telling her what was going on.

"Not that I wish to imply you have been sleeping on… the job." The pony continued, his eyebrows furrowing together at the confused chaos student.

Trimmer's eyes narrowed at the mysterious pony, somewhat peeved that he didn't answer her question._ Wait. Job? What job? He isn't referring to the marshmallow crème bombs that I was supposed to help Pinkie Pie with, does he? Because if so, then I am not in the mood for a lecture from this guy._

"No one is more deserving of a rest. And all the effort in the world would have gone to waste until…" The pony paused, taking a shaky breath. "Well… let's just say your hour has come again."

_Well there goes my marshmallow theory. _Before Trimmer could ask the pony what was going on, the suited stallion's image began fading into transparency. Trimmer leaned in to see the image in the outline of the pony's figure. Her eyebrows rose at seeing an army of griffons marching in perfect unison, their bodies clad in what appeared to be… paintball armor?

"The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world." The pony stated.

Now Trimmer couldn't come up with anything to say to this pony. _Okay. Buck it. I'll just roll with it and see how this turns out._ She conceded.

"So, wake up, Miss Trimmer." The pony said, sucking in a breath once again. "Wake up and… smell the paint."

Trimmer watched as the pony's figure began to fade away from her, a bright and sunny surrounding beginning to envelop her vision. A sudden whistle blow snapped her out of her daze, the mystery pony fading from her sight completely.

Trimmer's head spun, taking in the environment she had just woken up in. A familiar-looking castle loomed over where she was, its shadow stretching across the landscape. Before her dozens of ponies and other creatures were doing what appeared to be drills and exercises. A staircase underground lay to her right, a few groups of ponies making their way towards it.

"Canterlot?" Trimmer wondered aloud.

"Ah, Trimmer, my student!" A familiar voice exclaimed to her right. Trimmer looked to see the lord of chaos himself.

"How's it going, Teach?" Trimmer asked, a grin stretching across her mouth as she reached to brush a few stray white hairs out of her vision.

Discord heaved a sigh. "The sun's shining, the birds are tweeting, and everything is as it should be." He paused, turning his sullen gaze to face his student's. "This day sucks so far."

"Tell me about it." Trimmer rolled her eyes, thinking back to her encounter with the blue-suited pony.

"I am telling you about it." Discord replied, a one-fanged smile appearing on his visage. "Would you like for me to say it again?"

Trimmer leapt into the air and quickly took a sitting position, her body floating in midair. "Yes, tell me more." She said, putting her head in her hands.

Discord suddenly turned his back to her. "Well you wouldn't be interested anyway."

Stretching her legs down the ground, Trimmer resumed her standing position. "So what is going on here, anyways?"

"Qualifiers." A regal voice behind Trimmer replied.

Both draconequuses turned to see a confident-looking Princess Celestia strolling towards them.

"Princess Sunbutt!" Discord declared, bowing low before Celestia. "How kind of you to grace us with your presence."

Celestia gave Discord a contemptible look. "Get up, Discord. I am in no mood for sarcasm. Today is an important day for the Equestrian Paintball Corps and I wish to see it go without a hitch."

_She is just asking for something crazy to happen to this place. _Trimmer thought, trying to hold back a mischievous grin. _Maybe I'll use a paint grenade like I did a couple years ago. Or maybe make all their paintball guns shoot grapes instead of paintballs._

"No need for the 'tude, Celestia." Discord said, rising to his former stance. "I'll play nice for you today."

Celestia gave him a nod. "I should hope so." She said, turning to Trimmer, her expression lighting up. "And how has your day been so far, my dear?"

Trimmer rubbed a scaly hand through the hair on the back of her head. "Well I just got done talking with some weird blue-suited pony that kept babbling about a bunch of nonsense. So it's going great so far." Trimmer replied.

"Oh so you've met him. Great guy, isn't he?" Discord perked up, Trimmer giving him a confused look.

"You know that creep?" Trimmer asked, raising an eyebrow.

Discord gave a shrug. "He likes to come up every now and again. Always talking like some foreboding event is about to take place. Other than that, he's a rather fun individual to share a fine bottle of chocolate with."

Trimmer blinked. "So… was that some sort of set-up you had with him or does he just do that for the heck of it?"

Discord tapped his chin. "More often than not he does it just because he can."

"And what's his name? I never caught it." Trimmer asked.

Discord pursed his lips. "Hmm. Now that you mention it, Trimmer, I've forgotten. I think it starts with a 'G'." the draconequus replied.

_Whatever._ Trimmer thought, turning her eyes to the recruits before her. "So what exactly do these qualifiers entail?"

"The Pit." Discord said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"The Pit?" Trimmer repeated.

Discord nodded. "Yep. A series of tests were squads or individuals are either admitted or turned away from joining the EPC."

A smile slowly spread across Trimmer's mouth. "And we're gonna sit back, watch them, and not mess with anything at all?" She asked, giving her mentor a wink.

With a rub of his hands, Discord's eyes narrowed in anticipation. "Precisely."

**-The Pit, Canterlot, Equestria-**

Down in the entrance to the Pit, a line of ponies stretched to the stairs that led to the trench's entryway, each one of them waiting on the trodden dirt path as patiently as they could. _There's gotta be at least fifty squads trying out for this thing._ Twilight Sparkle wondered in bafflement as she beheld the sea of multicolored faces below her. She stood atop a small tower next to a large chain-link fence that separated the preparation chamber from the Pit itself.

"You two ready?" Twilight Sparkle asked, looking at the pair of alicorn ponies that stood before the entrance gate to the Pit.

"Ready as spaghetti, Colonel Sparkle, ma'am!" A rather enthusiastic blue and red-striped alicorn cried, his short forest-green mane bouncing up and down with him as he jumped in glee.

"He always this gung-ho about things?" Twilight asked the second alicorn.

The black and blue-striped alicorn nodded. "You don't know the half of it."

"The half of what?" Hyper Strike asked, a crazy grin adorning his face. "The glass of water? 'Cuz I always see it as half full. Unless it's Shay over here that looks at the glass of water and says it's half empty!"

Rogue Shadow gave himself a facehoof. "Have I ever told you how amazed I am that we're actually related?"

Hyper gave a 'hmm' and tapped his chin with a hoof. "About forty seven times. Why you ask?"

Rogue looked back up Twilight, as if asking for some help.

"Right, well. You know the rules. Eliminate all the targets and make it back in the allotted time to qualify for EPC selection. Good luck you two." Twilight encouraged.

"Thanks, Princess! We won't let you down!" Hyper shouted, gesturing to the pair of paintball miniguns that hung from the saddle on his back.

"I don't doubt it." Twilight murmured as she took hold of a lever in the tower. "On three! One!" She shouted, both brothers pulling their paintball visors over their faces. "Two!" Rogue whipped out his own multi-use paintball rifle and flicked the safety switch the marker. Hyper's grin grew into a toothy smile at the _vrrrrrr_ sound as his spinning paintball miniguns began hummed to life.

"Three!" Twilight shouted, pulling the lever. The fence swung open, both ponies rushing into the Pit.

"CHAAAaarge!" Hyper's voice faded as the brothers rushed the opening. Closing the gate behind them, Twilight looked down at who was next as the sound of paintball fire filled the air.

"So who's next?" She asked.

A pony in a black cloak stepped forward. "I believe that would be me." A sinister-sounding voice uttered from underneath the hood of his cloak.

"Identify yourself." Twilight ordered, checking the list of participants. Her eyes fell on a familiar name. A name she hadn't seen nor heard since the end of the last paintball war. _Oh dear._

The creature threw off the hood, revealing the head and twisted horn of a changeling, but the silver eyes of a pegasus. "Black Mark, reporting for duty."

Twilight gave the chegasus a contemptible look. "Long time, no see, Black Mark. Is it just you by yourself in the Pit?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Black Mark replied confidently.

"He won't be needing the Pit today, Twilight." A familiar voice said from above the Pit's entrance. Twilight and Black looked up to see Princess Celestia looking down on them.

A fanged smile spread across Black's face. "Princess Celestia." He greeted. "It has been too long."

"You won't be going into the Pit today, Black Mark." Celestia ordered.

Black's smile turned smug. "Still bitter from our last encounter?" He presumed.

"Quite the opposite. That was two years ago, and it was an even match." Celestia said, Black snorting at the word 'even'. "Taking your actions in the last paintball conflict into consideration, you won't be going into the Pit, but straight into the EPC. Your skills as demonstrated during the first paintball war have shown that you don't require any further testing."

Black mark shirked his cloak and spread his wings, hovering up and out of the Pit's entrance, landing in front of the solar princess. "I see my reputation precedes me." He said proudly. "Am I that feared among your ranks that you'd hate for me to make the others look bad?"

"Not even close." Celestia said, trying to withhold judgment. "You have been selected for an operation. I will brief you and your assigned squad in four hours. You are dismissed until then, Private Mark."

Black's grin slightly faded at his predetermined rank. "As you command, _Princess._" He hissed, spread his wings and taking off into the sky.

Twilight and Celestia swapped looks as the next squad presented themselves beneath Twilight's tower.

"I'll let you get back to work." Celestia said, turning away from her spot over the Pit entrance and began walking towards a waiting Sergeant Foaley.

As soon as she neared the sergeant, Celestia leaned down to his ear level. "Retrieve the others and brief them on their assignment. I will bring Black Mark up to speed on his part of the mission during the squad briefing." She whispered.

"Yes ma'am." Foaley replied. "And if I might ask, do you think that he's the right one for the job?"

A look of confidence flashed across Celestia's visage. "I don't think, Sergeant. I know."

**Meanwhile**

"And what's your name?" The purple alicorn asked from atop her tower.

The light grey unicorn looked up, her magenta eyes meeting the princess's purple ones. "Pendragon, your Highness." She replied with a small bow.

"You don't have a squad with you?" Twilight inquired, noting that Pendragon stood alone in the Pit entrance.

"No ma'am." Pendragon replied coolly. "If you wish for me to join a squad or round one up, I can."

Twilight put up a hoof. "There's no need. You will be assigned a squad based on how you do in the Pit. On that note," She said, gripping the lever once again. "Are you ready?"

Pendragon pulled her black facemask over her head, covering her eyes and muzzle. "Ready."

"Begin on three." Twilight declared. "One!" Pendragon shifted in her paintball armor, the black plates on her chest and back sliding into a more comfortable position. "Two!" Pendragon's horn glowed a light magenta, her pistols Aegis and Balmung shooting from their holsters and out in front of her. "Three!" Twilight shouted, pulling the lever.

As soon as the gate opened, Pendragon shot into the Pit and hooked a right at the first turn. The turn opened up into a circular open-roofed chamber, three wooden chest-high barriers spread out across the room. Three paint-caked steel targets simultaneously sprang up from behind the barriers, Pendragon taking aim with her pistols.

_Thap! Thap! Thap-thap!_ She fired, two targets retracting to the ground upon being shot as she put two paintballs into the third target.

"First stage clear! Go! Go! Go!" A female voice shouted from above the Pit.

Pendragon galloped towards a small wooden one-story building ahead of her, bursting through the open entrance. To her right sprang up a target from the wall, to her left, another.

Her eyes narrowed behind the tinted visor as Pendragon used her magic to aim her pistols at both targets. _Thap-thap!_ Two shots, two hits. The targets shrank back into their original spots.

Suddenly a target with a paintball marker attached shot up from the ground in front of her. Pendragon didn't have time to aim her pistols at the target in front of her before the target fired at her.

In a split second, a rectangular magenta shield burst from her horn, the oncoming paintball splattering against the magical barrier. Aiming Aegis at the hostile steel plate, Pendragon cancelled her shield spell and fired as soon as the shield had dissipated. _Thap! _The marker-equipped target retracted onto the floor.

_Not as easy when they shoot back._ Pendragon thought to herself.

"Stage two clear! Move it!" the same voice shouted from a loudspeaker in the corner of the room.

Pendragon's eye caught a door sliding open to her right, her hooves carrying her through the door as fast as they could. Pendragon entered another open-roofed area, this time she found multiple steel targets moved from side to side on conveyer belts, several chest-high walls spread around the areas in between them. Charging forward, Pendragon lined up the sights of her pistols.

_Thap-thap-thap-thap!_ Pendragon fired, three of her shots finding their marks. Three of the seven targets went down.

Her ears perked at hearing a _ching_ from each of the remaining targets. To Pendragon's surprise, markers sprang out from behind the four targets. Her eyes quickly caught a lone chest-high wall, diving behind it as soon as the targets opened fire.

The timed _thwack-thwack-thwack_ of paintballs bombarding her cover alerted Pendragon to when the targets were going to fire. _Thwack-thwack-thwack… thwack-thwack-thwack._

_Now!_ Pendragon shot up from behind her cover, aiming her pistols as she stood up. _Thap-thap! Thap-thap!_ Pendragon grinned at seeing all four of her shots hit the remaining targets.

"Stage three cleared! Sprint to the finish!" The voice shouted, a gate opening at the far end of the chamber.

_Come on, Pen! You got this!_ She thought, leaping over her cover and sprinting towards the exit. Pendragon shot towards the finish line, her heart thumping in her chest at a mile a minute. Her eyes focused on the small white line in the dirt separating the end of the Pit from the exit room.

Pendragon gauged the distance between her and her destination, the line getting closer with each second. _Twenty meters… ten meters… five meters!_ A few moments later, Pendragon crossed the finish line, skidding to a stop as she crossed the line.

"Well done, recruit Pendragon." The voice said directly above her. Pendragon looked up to see a second tower, this one housing a tactical vest-wearing storm grey batpony, her amber eyes looking over Pendragon.

"Thanks. If I might ask, who are you?" Pendragon asked between breaths, using her magic to lift her mask from her face.

"Captain Sanguine Moon." The batpony replied as she looked down at a digital timer on the wall of the tower in front of her. "And based on what I'm seeing on the clock, you've passed the Pit. Welcome to the Equestrian Paintball Corps, Pendragon."

A smile grew on Pendragon's face. "Awesome. So now what?" She asked.

Sanguine reached over and pulled a lever, a double door sliding open to reveal a staircase leading back up to ground level. "Report to the courtyard where the results for your run will be posted. Your time will determine which squad you'll be assigned to. Any questions?"

Pendragon shook her head. "No ma'am."

"Excellent." Sanguine said with a grin. "Now get outta here. The next squad's gonna be coming through here in about twenty seconds."

Pendragon gave Sanguine a quick salute and began trotting towards the stairs. _I wonder what my time was._ She wondered as the double doors slide shut behind her.

Sanguine turned her eyes towards the end of the final chamber, a trio of ponies shooting out of the single-story building. Leaning her mouth to the microphone, Sanguine shouted into it. "Third stage, recruits! Move it! Move it!"

**-Eagle-eye Forest, Griffon Kingdom-**

"Left... left… left, right, left!" The troop master's voice echoed throughout the woods as the column of griffons marched down the barely paved trail that wound through the trees. They'd been marching for a solid five hours. Wherever their destination was, most of the marchers were hoping that it was close by.

Ahead of the column was a pair of sergeants, the green bands on their arms showing the claw and lightning logo of the Griffon Kingdom.

"So we're almost to the camp?" One of them asked the other.

"About a few miles south-southeast of it, but yes. We are considerably closer than we were the last time you asked."

"And when was that, Sergeant Beak?" The first griffon asked innocently.

"Four minutes ago, Sergeant Broadwings." Sergeant Beak tried to hold back a groan as he replied.

Sergeant Broadwings turned his blue eyes to look straight at his fellow sergeant. "Has it been that long? My, how time flies."

_Not quickly enough, dude._ Beak thought with a quick roll of his eyes.

"So what are tomorrow's activities going to entail, Beak?" Broadwings asked.

Digging a folded piece of paper out of his uniform pocket, Sergeant Beak unfolded and looked over the schedule. "Tomorrow we get up and six hundred thirty hours, have breakfast, then go to the paintball course at nine hundred. Hopefully we'll arrive at the facility by nine hundred fifteen. After that, lunch at twelve hundred hours followed by teamwork exercises at fourteen hundred. Dinner at seventeen thirty, and finally campfire gathering at nineteen hundred."

Broadwings smiled, giving Beak a smile. "Excellent. Sounds like tomorrow's going to be a good day. Now we just have to get to the training grounds first."

"Yep." Beak replied, a grin tugging at the side of his mouth. "I think it's gonna be a pretty awesome day tomorrow."

**Good evening (or morning/afternoon depending on where you are), my fellow fanfiction enthusiasts! Wow. I really did not expect the amount of OC submissions to blow up the way it did in comparison to the first fic. You guys have no idea how happy that makes me! I'm just as excited to see new readers giving their OC contributions as I am to see some old faces returning from the previous fic. So without further ado, here are the daring souls who have allowed me to utilize their OCs in the fic:**

**-decode9**

**-Dragon2323**

**-I'm a Jesus Freak**

**-jesslyoko324**

**-nicranger**

**-Sapphire Delusion**

**-ShaqlerIKMY**

**-SonofDeath**

**-The guest**

**-The Lovely Vocal**

**-The Supreme Slurpinator**

**-Vaati Star**

**-wetworkzNinja**

**And to those of you that didn't see your OCs in this chapter, have no fear! You will see them in a future chapter. I hope you guys liked the chapter and send me those OCs!**


	3. Chapter 3

**My Little Paintball: Rise of the Griffon Kingdom**

**Chapter 3: Squad Up! (Part 2)**

**-EPC Headquarters, Canterlot, Equestria-**

It had been a long day for many of the recruits in the briefing room. The dimly lit room didn't provide the best visibility for the majority of the soon-to-be paintball soldiers, save for those at the front where a couple lights shone on the center of a stage. Behind the stage was a massive screen, four smaller screens stacked on top of one another beside it.

Murmurs filled the air, ponies and other creatures conversing with one another. They all talked of how well they did in the Pit, or whether the one they were sitting next to would be their squad mate. Amidst the eager recruits, however, one had her eyes set on a different prize. An azure pony with a navy-colored mane and tail scanned the crowd.

_So many to pick from._ Velvet Bleedingheart thought, rubbing her hooves together greedily. The young adult pegasus mare had been scoping out the training grounds since yesterday, hoping to find somepony, someone, or something, to hook up with. Her blue eyes surveyed the briefing room, seeing nothing but the backs of heads; she was left dissatisfied with her search. _That batpony I saw in the tower at the end of the Pit… ooh that'd be a nice catch. But what about the dark changeling… or was it a pegasus? Doesn't matter. He seemed so brooding, so dark, and oh so sexy. Where is he anyway?_

"Attention recruits of the Equestrian Paintball Corps." A voice said on the loudspeaker. All eyes turned to the stage, a silhouetted alicorn approaching the lighted area. A proud looking Twilight Sparkle entered the light, turning to face the crowd as she spoke into a headset microphone. "You all took part in and completed the training it takes to become a member of the Equestrian Paintball Corps and passed the your final exam. Today, all of you will be assigned squads depending on your time in the Pit."

As Twilight spoke, the screens behind her suddenly flickered to life. Facial profile pictures of various ponies flashed on the screens, each one with a name at the bottom of the mug shot.

"The squad that appears on the screen is the squad you'll be assigned to. Different squads will have different numbers of members. When your names are called, come up to the stage to receive your badges." Twilight said, her horn glowing a bright purple. A scroll burst into existence before her, levitating in front of her eyes as she read.

"Apple squad." Twilight said, a large yellow A emblazoned on a large red apple-shaped silhouette appearing on the screen. To the side, four pictures of ponies appeared on the screen. "Squad leader: Applejack. Applejack, would you care to call up your squad members?"

A silhouetted pony with a Stetson hat on her head trotted up to the stage. Stepping into the light, Applejack beamed at the audience.

"Howdy, everypony! Now before I say who's gonna be in my squad, I'd just like to thank each of y'all for coming out and trying out for the EPC. With that out of the way, Apple squad will include…" She said, turning her gaze to Twilight's scroll to read off the list. "Hyper Strike, Rogue Shadow," An elated shout came from the audience. "Braeburn, and Tiger Lily."

"Woohoo!" A feminine voice exclaimed from the front row. Applejack looked down to see a somewhat muscular light orange earth pony mare, her mane and tail a deep blue with navy lines running through them.

Applejack recognized her from the image on the screen. "Y'all must be Tiger Lily." She said with a grin.

"Sure am!" Tiger Lily replied. "Don't worry, Applejack! I'll make sure not to disappoint you or my family back on the farm!"

"You're a farming pony?" Applejack asked, immediately picking up on the shared skill.

"Yep! Been farming citrus fruits since I could walk." Tiger Lily beamed.

_Citrus fruits?_ Applejack's grin faded slightly. "Well… good for you." She said, turning back up the audience. "Now just a reminder. Just because your names don't get called doesn't mean there won't be a spot open for you in mine or anypony else's squad. So, if your name was called, come on up here."

An excited looking Braeburn and Tiger Lily trotted up to the stage, followed shortly by the pair of alicorn brothers.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Thisisgonnabesoawesome, don'tyouthink, Shadow? We'regonnabeinthesamesquadandwe'llpracticewitheachotherand-"

Sticking a hoof in his brother's mouth, Shadow calmly looked to Hyper. "I'm glad to be in the same squad with you too, man. Just take it down a notch."

Hyper nodded enthusiastically as Shadow removed his hoof.

"Alright now. Hold out your left hoof." Applejack said, the four squad members complying. Four magically levitated armbands strapped themselves onto their hooves, the Apple squad insignia embroidered onto the band.

"Welcome to Apple squad, y'all." Applejack congratulated.

Twilight stepped back into the spotlight. "Thank you, Applejack." She said, her cowpony friend and her new squad trotting toward the end of the stage. "Now our next squad will be Eclipse squad. Many of you know its leader from the previous paintball conflict as your commander or as your foe. But this time she is here as your squad leader. Please give a warm welcome to Princess Luna."

A wave of clapping hit the stage as a silhouetted alicorn began walking onto the stage and into the spot light. With a smile, the Princess of the Night greeted the audience. "Good evening, subjects! First I would like to emphasize squad leader Applejack's point that you all did phenomenally today in your training and in the Pit. With that in mind, only a few can be allowed into my squad. Here are those that have deserved the privilege." Luna's horn began to glow blue, another scroll floating into her vision as she began to read. "Captain Sanguine Moon, Silver Wind, and Black Talon have qualified for Eclipse Squad."

A few claps were heard as Sanguine Moon made her way up to the stage. Turning her head to see if anyone was with her, she saw a silvery pegasus with a sky blue mane and tail, Sanguine's slit amber eyes meeting the pegasus's gold ones. Sanguine's eyes looked up at the squad member behind the pegasus. Her ears drooped at seeing a dragon towering over her. The dragon's black scales and spines gave a soft glint in the dimly lit room, the dragon's silver eyes looking down on the batpony.

"Sup?" the dragon asked in a gravelly tone.

"You, apparently." Sanguine replied as she faced back towards the stage and continued towards her new squad leader.

As soon as the three approached the lunar princess, Luna turned to face them. "Today you proved you are more than capable of skill on the battlefield. You were fast, efficient, and could handle being fired upon and quickly returning it. Such traits are desired in my squad, and I believe that each of you will not disappoint. Without further ado, hold out your left arms.

Sanguine held her left foreleg out, Luna magically sliding on a black armband, the insignia of a moon blotting out the sun emblazoned on the band. "Congratulations, Captain Moon." Luna said with a light smile.

Sanguine gave Luna a salute. "Thank you, Princess." She said, withdrawing the salute.

Luna proceeded down the line, sliding the armband onto the pegasus. "Congratulations, Private Wind."

Silver Wind replied with a thankful nod and a toothy smile.

Black Talon stooped down and extended his left arm, Luna sliding the armband over his scales. "And congratulations to you, Private Talon."

The dragon stood back up and raised his arm in a salute. "Thank you, Princess Luna. You won't be disappointed."

"I'm not expecting to be." Luna replied, turning back to the audience. "Should any of you prove exceptional in your actions, there will always be a spot open for you on Eclipse squad. Thank you."

Another wave of clapping resounded as Twilight retook the spotlight. "Thank you, Princess Luna. The next squad, Solaris squad, will be headed by another former friend and foe. Please welcome the one and only Princess Celest-"

Luna shot to Twilight's side, whispering in her ear as she cut the young alicorn's words off.

"Oh." Twilight blinked. "I'm sorry, everypony. But it seems that Princess Celestia is unavailable at this time to present her squad. Instead, Princess Luna will be overseeing the presentation of Solaris squad."

**Meanwhile**

Black Mark shuffled in his seat, the three other ponies in the room staring straight ahead at the whiteboard in front of them. The whitewalls of the room added little to the atmosphere, the light bulbs above burning brightly on the preselected squad.

"So… any of you guys heard of me?" Black Mark asked, looking over at the three ponies. Two mares, one stallion. Both mares had forest green coats, only their eyes and manes differing in color. One had a brown mane and tail with sky-blue eyes, the other had a yellow-greenish mane and tail with . The stallion had chocolate brown fur, his short-cut mane and tail were deep black, his auburn eyes staring intently at the whiteboard.

Black Mark waited for a reply that never came. "Haven't heard about how I almost beat Princess Celestia herself in the last paintball war? Nothing?" He asked again, met with the same silence. "Nothing." He deadpanned, looking back at the whiteboard.

A wooden door to the side opened up, Princess Celestia walking through the doorway. Instantly the three other ponies shot up from their seats, their hooves arched in a collective salute.

"At ease." Celestia said, the tight-lipped trio sitting back down. "For this operation we are having to go low-tech to avoid detection."

"So whatcha got us doing, Princess?" Black Mark asked, arching an eyebrow as he crossed his forelegs in expectation.

Celestia turned to face the four operatives, her horn glowing a faint yellow. A red marker that lay at the bottom of the board glowed a similar aura, levitating up to the board.

"As all of you know, tensions with the Griffon Kingdom have been at a twenty-year high, and I fear that conflict is not that far off."

"So what does this have to do with us, exactly?" Black Mark spoke up.

Celestia's gaze fell on Black, her eyebrows furrowing at the interruption. "Our latest intelligence suggests that the griffons are training their own army to be equipped for paintball warfare in direct response to our creation of the EPC. This cannot continue." Celestia stated, the marker hovering up to the board. Celestia continued as she drew various figures on the board. "The griffons are using a single site for their paintball training, similar to the layout of our facilities. It lies in the heart in the Eagle-eye Forest in the southwest corner of the Griffon Kingdom, easily reachable by our forces. This is where you four come in."

Black Mark's eyes narrowed at what he was looking at on the whiteboard. A circle with three major gaps in the perimeter surrounded a cluster of squares, a few rectangles standing off from the squares.

"The squares represent the crew quarters. Those are not the primary targets." Celestia said, pressing the marker on each of the rectangles. "These are paintball training courses. Their training methods involve pitting themselves against each other to hone tactics and teamwork. You are to hit the courses and dismantle them from these entry points first," She said, tapping two of the gaps in the circle with the marker. "Then move on to the crew quarters. You are to rendezvous and make your getaway through the third entrance to the facility and return to Equestrian territory. You depart for the site tomorrow morning at four hundred hours. Any questions?"

"So this'll be a midday attack, correct?" Black Mark asked, leaning forward.

"Yes, Private Mark." Celestia nodded.

"Kind of defeats the purpose of a sneak attack."

"Who said this was a sneak attack, Private? This attack is to send a message. Surely you of all ponies would understand wanting to establish a reputation, Black Mark."

Black Mark's expression softened, nodding his head. "And is security a factor?"

"No. The griffons have no reason to suspect an attack, so why post guards when there isn't a threat?" Celestia replied.

A grin spread across Black's face. _This sounds easy. Just go in, shoot some birdbrains, and get out of there. This is gonna be fun._

"No further questions?" Celestia asked, her eyes turning to Black. The changeling-pegasus replied with a nonchalant shrug. With a nod, Celestia continued. "Very well. Meet at the south gate of the EPC facility at o-four hundred. Until then, dismissed."

**-Site #17, Eagle-eye Forest, Griffon Kingdom-**

"Are we there yet?" a rather bored Sergeant Broadwings asked.

"No." Sergeant Beak replied flatly.

A few seconds passed as the troop continued its march through the forest, the sounds of a few chirping birds penetrating the serene stillness.

"Are we there yet?"

With a sigh, Beak responded, "No, Sergeant. We aren't there yet."

The stillness returned, save for the rustling of tree branches in the wind.

"Are we there yet?"

"NO!" Beak shouted, stopping dead in his tracks to look at Broadwings straight in the eye. "HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GOING TO ASK THAT F(yay!)KING QUESTION? FOR THE SEVENTY-FIFTH AND HOPEFULLY LAST TIME, NOOOOO!"

The troop continued its march, no one daring to make a sound.

"So… We aren't there yet." Broadwings concluded.

Sergeant Beak's shoulders sagged. "Yes, Broadwings. We aren't there yet."

"But how much farther until we get there?"

"I WILL RIP YOUR WINGS OFF AND SHOVE THEM SO FAR-!"

"Um, Sergeants?" A young-sounding voice asked behind the pair of sergeants.

"WHAT?!" Beak shot back, turning to face a rather startled-looking adolescent griffon.

"I was just going to say the entrance is right over there." The griffon said, pointing a shaky claw at an curved wooden archway that stood on the side of the forest trail.

Both Beak and Broadwings turned to see the archway, the words _Site 17_ carved into the top of archway.

"Oh." Beak deadpanned.

"Well come on, everybody!" Broadwings was quick to try to liven up the troops' spirits. "Let's not keep the site staff waiting for us!"

A few cheers rose from the group as they began to march toward the entrance. As soon as they turned the corner to go under the archway, they all stopped dead at what they saw.

Just in front of the square housing cabins, a massive food table lay before them. A large plate of hay fries, a platter of freshly roasted mice, and a bowl of punch were on display for the troops upon their arrival at the site. Beside it was a yellow-feathered griffon, the fur on his body a soft brown. The griffon's amber eyes lit up upon seeing the newcomers.

"Welcome to Site Seventeen, Troop Forty-Two!" He exclaimed at the troops' arrival. "I am site overseer Goldenrod and I hope you all enjoy your stay here at one of the Griffon Kingdom's finest facilities. On that note, let's eat!"

As the griffons got their food sat down at tables that had been scattered around the entryway, Sergeants Beak and Broadwings sat down to eat with Goldenrod.

"Thank you so much for everything you've set up, Goldie." Beak said with an appreciative smile as he set his plate down on the table.

Goldenrod replied with his own grin. "What are old friends for, Beak? And how've you been doing, Broadwings? Still pursuing that promotion?"

Broadwings looked up from his plate, a few hay fries hanging from his beak. "Whuf? Oh. Haven't goff it yeff."

Goldenrod gave his friend an incredulous look. "What? After everything you've done for the troop they still won't promote you?"

"I'd say the brownie incident had something to do with that." Beak cut in.

Broadwing's head shot up and looked straight at Beak. Swallowing the food he had in his mouth, he pointed a claw at his fellow sergeant. "I thought we agreed to never speak of that again."

Goldenrod raised an eyebrow, then suddenly slapped a clawed hand on the table as a hearty laugh escaping his beak. "Oh right! I'd almost forgotten about that. They still hold that over your head? Jeez! The top brass has the memory of elephants when it comes to that sort of thing."

Broadwings shrugged. "I just have to work past it and prove to my superiors that I can handle being around brownies again."

"Assuming you ever will." Beak said, taking a sip of from his cup of punch. "Had I been in your position after that debacle, I wouldn't go near chocolate ever again."

"Well all that matters is that you and your troop arrived safely." Goldenrod said, raising his cup for a toast. "To Troop Forty-Two and its sergeants."

Beak and Broadwings raised their cups to Goldenrod's. "And to Site Seventeen and a successful oversight over the next couple days."

With a _clunk_, the three friends tipped their heads back and drank.

**Hello once again, everyone! Hope you guys don't mind the changes I made to the fic's summary. Nothing to bring out the pitchforks and torches for, right…? I hope so, because I have a fallout bunker in an undisclosed location I could go to if changing the summary violates interdimensional law(They'll never catch me!). Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and, as always, I am thankful for the new OCs you keep sending my way! Speaking of which, here are the new OC contributors:**

**-Cute7Crasher**

**-Russet Burbanks**

**And just in case you didn't see your OC in the chapter, or as much as you wanted to see of him/her, you'll be seeing them in future chapters. Again, hope y'all like the fic so far and send in those OCs!**


	4. Chapter 4

**My Little Paintball: Rise of the Griffon Kingdom**

**Chapter 4: A Not-So Silent Night**

**-Site 17, Eagle-eye Forest, Griffon Kingdom-**

"_Oh what a night_." Sergeant Broadwings sung. From his seat on the porch outside one of the cabins, the night sky looked absolutely picturesque. Stars poked holes through the black of night, the moon's silver gleam bathing the camp in a soft light. Broadwings began tapping his paw on the wood floor to the beat of the tune in his head. "_Late December back in Sixty-Three… as I remember, what a night… oh what a night._"

"Broad?" A tired voice asked from inside the cabin.

"_You know I didn't even know her name. But I was never gonna be the same. What a lady, what a night._"

"Broad." The voice said, this time a little more agitated.

"_Oh I, I get a funny feeling when she walked in the room, yeah my… as I recall it ended too soon._"

"Broad!"

"_Oh what a night._ Yes, Beak?" Broadwings finished without glancing back at his fellow sergeant in the doorway.

"As much as the rest of the troop would love to hear your angelic voice, we are all _very _tired and need our sleep." Beak said groggily.

"Very well, my good fellow." Broadwings replied cheerily. "I shall rest my voice for the evening."

"Thanks." Beak said, closing the door as he slid back inside the cabin.

Silence resumed its momentary reign over Site 17, save for the faint chirping of crickets among the trees.

"_In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps toniiiight. In the jungle, the quiet jungle, the lion sleeps toniiiight._"

The creaking of floorboards behind him alerted Broadwings to Beak's presence. "Broad, if you went to bed without any further tunes, I'll give you a cookie to go with breakfast tomorrow." Beak said in conceding.

Broadwings shot up from his chair and turned to go inside the cabin. "No appreciation for the classics, Beak?"

"I love the classics." Beak responded as Broadwings passed him through the doorway. "It's just that I'd like more than five hours of sleep tonight."

"No problem." Broadwings said, a playful grin on his face.

Beak breathed a sigh of relief as he followed Broadwings back inside, only to jerk his head backwards at Broadwing's beak suddenly being in his face.

"I'll hold you to that cookie promise." Broadwings growled.

Sergeant Beak's eyes darted from side to side. "Uh… okay. I'll make sure to get you that cookie then."

"Good." Broadwing's expression lightened up almost immediately. "And make sure it's chocolate chip."

"I'll… be sure to remember that." Beak tried to recover from the surprise seriousness in Broadwings's gaze.

"Well, goodnight." Broadwings said happily as he strolled toward his room.

Beak watched the door shut behind the cheery griffon, the aghast expresssion still on his face. "Goodnight."

**-EPC Headquaters, Canterlot, Equestria-**

"It is way too late for me to be doing this sort of thing." Comet Frost said with a groan as the trio of unicorns walked down the dimly lit hallway. Lights out on the facility was almost an hour ago and the faint blue ice-wielding unicorn was tired from a full day of exercise.

A neon orange unicorn with a green-and-red striped mane wearing and yellow jumpsuit playfully nudged the haggard unicorn in front of him. "Oh come on, dude. Don't be a sissy." Dynamite Beat said, a mad grin adorning his face. "I've been waiting too long to test the prototype."

"Let's not get too anxious, Dynamite. We still need to find a good spot to perform the experiment." Said a third unicorn, this one with a cobalt blue mane, his short spikey mane red with light green stripes. Radioactive Beat shuffled around in his white lab coat as he continued down the hallway. "And you said this location was a good spot?"

"Yep. Door straight down there." Comet pointed at a steel vault-like door at the far end of the hall, a single light shining down on it.

"What's back there?" Dynamite asked.

"Weapons testing chamber." Comet replied flatly, Dynamite letting out a giddy squee of excitement. "What exactly is it you guys are testing again?"

"Experiment eighty-five dash theta four." Radioactive responded with a proud grin. Comet blinked at the answer. "I like to call it the Nova bomb."

Comet stopped shy of the vault door. "This isn't going to be some catastrophic a-bomb grade stuff is it?"

Both Dynamite and Radioactive shook their heads. "Of course not." Radioactive said. "While it's blast radius is larger than that of an average paintball grenade's, it won't bring down the roof or anything."

"As awesome as that would be!" Dynamite piped up, earning an uneasy look from Comet.

"Okay, well I guess as long as it's not too destructive we could give your little 'Nova bomb' a try." Comet said, his horn glowing a faint blue. The vault door took on a similar hued aura as the wheel began to turn. After a few rotations, Comet pulled the door open, revealing what appeared to be a viewing row with a door to the right of the row. "Head out that door and place your bomb in the center of the chamber." Comet instructed.

Dynamite and Radioactive walked through the open vault door and pushed the viewing room's door open, Comet taking his place behind the viewing glass. The pair of brothers entered a large steel-walled room, a few lights shining onto the floor through protective screens. Dynamite carefully set down what looked like a spherical object. Comet narrowed his eyes at the object, finding that it had the shape of a normal grenade, but tiny paintballs covered the surface of the explosive.

Radioactive and Dynamite joined Comet in the viewing section.

"You guys ready to detonate?" Comet asked.

Radioactive raised some sort of cone-like device, a red button sitting on the top of it. "Ready as spaghetti."

"On your mark, then." Comet said, looking through the glass at the small little bomb.

"Three… two… one!" Radioactive said, slamming his hoof on the button. Comet hit the deck and braced his ears for a deafening explosion.

_Either that was a very quiet explosion or I just went deaf._ Comet thought, looking back up at the detonation chamber. To his surprise, the bomb was still there.

"Um…" Radioactive fumbled with the detonator. "Gimme a second."

"You said it was gonna work, Ray!" Dynamite whined. "I wanted to see it go boom!"

"I know, I know. Hey Comet, think you could go in there and see if there's something wrong with it?"

Comet perked up. "Me? Why me?"

"Because I was the one that constructed it and Dynamite knows next to nothing about explosives." Radioactive replied. "Don't worry. I'll guide you through the arming process."

Comet looked back and forth between the Nova bomb and its creator. After a few moments, he gave a sigh. "Alright. Just lemme get these goggles on." Reaching under the viewing glass, a pair of goggles met his hoof. Sliding them onto his head and over his eyes, Comet trudged into the chamber, his hooves clonking with each step on the metal.

_Stupid explosives maniacs. I don't care what the sergeant says tomorrow, I am making up the sleep I'm losing tonight because of this._ Comet thought as he knelt next to the bomb. "Okay! What do I do?" Comet called.

"Look on the top of the bomb." Radioactive replied. "Do you see a green or red light?"

Comet looked to the cap of the explosive to find a bright green light. "It's green! What's that mean?" Comet glanced at Radioactive and his brother as they began turned to each other to discuss something. _Unbelievable._

"Oh that's what was wrong." Comet heard Radioactive say.

"What was wrong?" Comet asked, a bad feeling beginning to creep into his mind.

"Forgot to turn on the detonator. Silly me!" the mad scientist pony said, a smile beginning to broaden across his face as his hoof flicked a switch. The detonator's button instantly blinking from red to green, Radioactive's hoof resuming its position over the button.

Comet's eyes widened. "Don't you dare, Ray! Don't you bucking-!"

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Dynamite shouted as Radioactive pressed the button.

**-The Crow's Nest, Location Classified-**

_Beautiful._ Was all Doctor Whooves could think as he looked up into the night sky. _Millions of stars, tens of millions of planets, thousands of species of life forms inhabiting each of them. _Through all the hardships he had experienced in the past, it was moments like this that made all that sacrifice worth it.

"Any word on Princess Celestia's activity lately?" a female voice said behind him.

The Doctor turned around to see a haggard-looking Luna, the bags under her eyes indicating her lack of sleep.

Doctor Whooves shook his head. "Unfortunately no. She has been much more hush-hush about her dealings lately."

"Think she suspects us?" Luna's eyebrows furrowed.

"You and I both know that Vaati is very careful as to whom our group is revealed to. He knows that those he tells won't tell anypony else." Whooves said reassuringly.

Luna walked up beside Whooves and looked up into the sky. The Doctor turned to look at the heavens with her, sensing her uncertainty.

"You miss it, don't you?" Whooves asked.

Luna breathed a sigh. "You'd think that for being princess of the night, I'd know more about the skies I presided over." She said, turning to face the ponified time lord. "I know I can't go back, but that doesn't mean I can't miss the life I once had."

"But suppose you had the choice." The Doctor said, Luna's eyebrow rising at the hypothetical scenario. "Let's say you could go back in time and change your mind. Sure it would be hugely paradoxical, but still. Would you do it?"

Luna's eyes fell to the ground, the former princess racking her brain for an answer. After a few moments of thought, the lunar alicorn turned her gaze back to the Doctor's. "Doctor, I-"

_Ssp!_ The paintball zipped between the ponies' noses and shot down into the dark valley below the hill. Both Luna and the Doctor's heads snapped in the direction the paintball came from. The Doctor facehoofed at seeing a grey hoof waving at the min the distance.

"Derpy?" Luna presumed.

The Doctor shook his head. "I swear that wall-eyed mare is going to kill me someday. Or at the very least cause a universe-shattering paradox with the TARDIS."

"Or both." Luna said with a snicker.

"Trust me, you don't want to see the latter occur." The Doctor said, turning back towards the conical Crow's Nest behind them, a few lights on in the top floor. "Come on, let's get some supper. Some fish fingers sound good right about now."

Luna 'hmm'ed as she began to follow the Doctor back to the tower. "Perhaps you'd like some custard with them too?"

The Doctor stopped and gave Luna a weird look. "Why would I ever want to have custard with something like fish fingers?"

"So then I say to him, you even wub, bro?" Vinyl Scratch beamed with a short laugh to her fellow musician.

"Had I been in that stallion's position I don't think I would have a response to that question." Octavia said with a roll of her eyes and a sip of her tea.

"Hey guys!" A cheery-sounding Derpy said, strolling over to the table the two musicians sat at, her sniper rifle slung over her back.

"Whassup, Derps?" Vinyl greeted with a smile. "Whatcha been up to?"

"Target practice. The blue-suited pony said it would be helpful later." Derpy replied, still wearing her innocent smile.

Octavia perked up. "Blue-suited pony?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "Did the intrusion alarm sound off and I just didn't hear it?"

"No pony tripped the alarms, Octy. We all would have heard them if that were the case." Vinyl reassured. "Besides it's dark out and Derpy was probably just seeing things."

Derpy shook her head. "Nope. I know what I saw, Vinyl. It was this grey pony with a blue suit and some sort of briefcase."

"And I'm queen of Equestria." Vinyl waved off. "Your mystery guest say anything other than to do some target practice?"

Derpy tapped her chin. "Something about unforeseen consequences or something like that."

"Unforeseen consequences?" the DJ said in a snarky tone. "Where'd you get that from? A movie trailer?"

Derpy shrugged. "Nope. It's just what the pony told me."

"Well whatever it was it probably wasn't important enough for you to remember the whole thing." Vinyl dismissed.

"So any word on Vaati and Kidd's status?" Octavia asked, changing the subject.

"None that I've heard." Vinyl responded. "Radio's been pretty dead recently. Either they're still in the process of figuring out what Celestia's up to, or they're trying to find a safe time to report."

"Derpy!" The Doctor's voice echoed from down the entrance hall.

All three mares' heads snapped in the direction of the Doctor's irked tone.

"Just putting this out there!" Vinyl shouted down the hall. "I had nothing to do with it!"

**-Griffon Armed Forces HQ, Aeolus, Griffon Kingdom-**

Nightfury looked straight ahead of her; her mind soaking in every detail of the mission her CO was giving her. The brown furred griffon hen stared at the chalkboard, each white dot and circle and square against the green board symbolizing her targets.

"You know what you must do, Corporal." The black-furred griffon said, directing his gaze at Nightfury's.

"Of course, sir." Nightfury responded.

"Your affiliation with NestCorp may have given you your alibi for this operation, but keep in mind that until you carry out the mission, everything around you with hooves and a muzzle could blow your cover." The commander warned.

"I understand."

"Good." The commander turned to wipe the chalk-inscribed stratagem from the board. "Your squad will rendezvous with you at the appointed location, you will carry out the mission at o'nine hundred hours, and return to base by fourteen hundred. Any questions?" Nightfury answered the commander's question with silence. "Very well. Until then, you are dismissed."

**Sorry for the long time to get this chapter to you folks! Getting ready for the new school year and getting accommodated to university life again proved to be quite time consuming. So again I apologize for the lengthy absence. Having said that, I'd like to thank all of you that have been patiently waiting for the next update, one of you being a new OC submitter. Therefore, the Alphadude Fanfiction User of the Month goes to:**

**-Dark Sector**

**Keep those OCs coming, everybody and I thank you all for your patience! By the way, football season is BACK! WOO!**

**PS: I don't own either "December, 1963" or "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". The rights to those belong to the Four Seasons and The Tokens respectively.**


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